Which team has been the strongest in Spain in recent years?
F1 News
- GPblog.com
For most F1 drivers, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the circuit they know best. This weekend, the circuit will be the scene of the GP of Spain for the 38th time. It is possible that Mercedes will lose an impressive streak this weekend.
Streak Mercedes at an end?
For nine years in a row, Mercedes has grabbed the pole position in Spain. Mercedes has become constructors' champion eight times in the turbo-hybrid era for good reason. Of the nine poles, Valtteri Bottas managed one, Nico Rosberg two and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton accounted for the remaining six. It doesn't look like the team will be strong enough to take a pole position in 2022 yet, so it can be said with almost complete certainty that Mercedes' pole streak will come to an end this weekend.
However, the race weekend is very important for the team in terms of further development of the W13 for the rest of the season. The team wants to use the race weekend in Barcelona as a measuring point; a comparison with the state of affairs during the winter tests. If the path they have taken with development is not the right one, it will most likely come to light in Spain.
Most wins from Ferrari
With Carlos Sainz, Spain has a driver who should be able to win the race in front of the home crowd. Charles Leclerc 's teammate at Ferrari has not done as well as the Monegasque this season, but with some luck it is certainly possible for the Spaniard to take the win. The past races of 2022 did show that if Max Verstappen does not have a defect in his RB18, he will only have something to fear from Leclerc and still win.
A win by Sainz or Leclerc would become Ferrari's thirteenth victory on the circuit. This makes Ferrari historically the strongest team in Spain. Ferrari's last victory here was in 2013 with Fernando Alonso, the other Spaniard on the F1 grid. That was the year the current Mercedes took its first pole position on the circuit.
Verstappen victory in spain
For Red Bull, there may be a fourth victory on the circuit this weekend. The team won three times at the circuit, with Verstappen's victory in 2016 certainly not the least. The Dutchman immediately took the win in Spain in his debut race at Red Bull Racing. The Mercedes drivers crashed and Verstappen stayed cool under the hot breath of Kimi Raikkonen throughout the race.